more time than I have at present, I should be most happy to communicate what little knowledge I possess on this subject; and also to send you specimens of those insects which have been so injurious to our gardens round Vienna this spring. The Curculio pýri, C. pomòrum, and Pontia cratæ`gi, appeared in such numbers, and destroyed every bud so immediately after its appearance, that, until the middle of May, the trees were without bud or leaf. Even now these butterflies are so plentiful, that there is a bad prospect for next year, although we searched for them in all their various metamorphoses, and still catch thousands of them in the mornings and evenings, when they are crowded together on different flowering plants, especially on Valeriana rùbra, Delphinium Ajacis, and Philadelphus sp. I intend making a collection of all these injurious insects, and putting them into a frame and glass, for the inspection of those who may be desirous of knowing them. This will enable young gardeners to know them at once, and at any time; and, by reading their different distinctive qualities, any one may easily remember their forms; which would not be the case, if a person were left to observe them in their different states and seasons alone; therefore, I would recommend such a collection in every garden.-C. Rauch. Rennweg, near Vienna, July, 1837.

The very interesting and valuable work above referred to by M. Rauch was published by the Agricultural Society of Vienna, who have also sent us a copy of it. It is now being translated for us, and will very shortly be published, in as cheap and convenient a form as possible, for the use of young gardeners. M. Rauch's idea of forming collections of destructive insects, in glazed cases, for the use of gardeners, is excellent, and we hope to see it adopted by many of our readers. · Cond.

HOLLAND.

Prizes offered by the Academy of Sciences at Haarlem, which held its eightyfifth annual meeting on the 20th of May last. The Academy's gold medal, and a gratuity of 150 florins (127. 16s. 3d.), were awarded to Dr. C. F. Gaertner of Calew in Wurtemberg, for a Memoir in German, on hybrid plants, obtained by the fecundation of certain species with the pollen of others.

The Academy proposes the following Questions to be answered before January 1. 1839-What are the different species of marine animals which destroy piles, and other wooden structures, by perforating them? According to certain botanists, some alga, of simple structure, if placed in favourable circumstances, will develope themselves, and be changed into vegetables quite different, and belonging to genera much higher in the scale of organisation, though these same algæ, if not in favourable circumstances, would be fecundated and reproduce their primitive forms. The Academy is desirous that these observations should be extended to other vegetables, which have not yet been examined under this point of view; and that the truth or falsity of this transition of one organised body into another be proved by exact descriptions and detailed figures. It has often been observed that some plants, in certain cases, give out a phosphorescent light, such as Tropa olum, Caléndula, Lilium bulbíferum, Tagètes, Euphorbia phosphòrea, Rhizomórpha, &c. The Academy wishes that, from researches made on purpose, this phenomenon may be explained; that it may be determined how much of what has been said on this subject is to be admitted as true; under what circumstances the phenomenon takes place; and what is the cause?

The following Questions were last Year proposed by the Academy, to be answered before January 1. 1838:- How is wood formed? Does it take its origin immediately from the sap, or from the cambium under the bark; or is it formed by the vessels which descend from the buds and the leaves, as the observations of M. Du Petit Thouars, and of M. Giron de Buzareingues, seem to prove? What application can be made of a knowledge of the true manner in which wood is formed, to the culture of useful trees? The Academy desires, 1st, an explanation, illustrated by figures, of the metamorphoses of at least fifty species of coleopterous insects, the metamorphoses and economy of which VOL. XIII. No. 91.

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are not yet known or described; 2dly, a methodical arrangement of coleopterous insects, founded upon the metamorphosis of the structure of the larvæ and chrysalides; 3dly, instructions, based on a knowledge of the metamorphoses, for preventing the too great increase of these noxious insects. How much has been proved, by experience, with respect to the utility of a circular incision, in form of a ring, made in the bark of trees, for the purpose of augmenting their fertility? How far can this manner of augmenting the produce of fruits be explained, conformably to the actual state of vegetable physiology; and what rules does this explanation furnish for effecting the process, without endangering the trees, or running the risk of losing them? What is the nature of chlorophylle (phyllochlore, chromule) in vegetables? What is its form and composition; and in what character does it differ from other vegetable matters? Is it different according to the kind of plant; and what constitutes this difference? What are the circumstances by which, during vegetation, it is produced, or changed, or modified, in plants?

The prize for each of these questions is a gold medal, value 150 florins, and a gratuity of 150 florins, when the answer shall be deemed worthy of it. The answers, written in Dutch, French, English, Latin, or German, are to be addressed to M. Van Marum, the secretary to the Academy. (L'E'cho du Monde Savant, July 15. 1837.)

DENMARK.

M. Petersen, gardener to the King of Denmark at Rosenburg, who made a tour through England, and part of Scotland, in the year 1831, was in this country during great part of the month of July last, and has returned home through France, Belgium, and Germany. M. Petersen having spent five or six years in this country, before he was appointed court gardener to his sovereign, not only acquired a thorough knowledge of all the newest gardening practices in the neighbourhood of London, but such a knowledge of the English language as enables him, while in his native country, to keep pace with the progress of improvement in England by means of English books. When M. Petersen returned to Denmark in the year 1827 (see Gard. Mag., Vol. III. p. 346.; and Vol. IV. p. 274.), gardening was in such a backward state, that an inhabitant of Britain now hardly credits the facts stated by M. Petersen, at that time, in the Gardener's Magazine; viz. that tart rhubarb was not known there as a culinary vegetable; that not a single pine-apple had been ripened on the 3d of September, 1827, but some were expected to be ready by about the middle of that month. The first melon was cut on August 30., and the first grapes only a few days sooner; mushrooms and sea-kale were not at all cultivated; most of the New Holland plants were unknown, even in the botanic gardens; and the only new North American annual grown there at that time was the Calliópsis tinctòria. Such was the state of gardening of Denmark in the year 1827. * In the course of 10 years, things have been entirely changed. Every culinary vegetable grown in English gardens is now produced in the royal kitchengardens at Copenhagen; many of the best varieties of hardy fruit trees have been not only introduced in the royal gardens, but even propagated in the public nurseries; almost all the fine herbaceous plants, annuals, and perennials, sent home by Douglas, have been introduced, and some of them are beginning to appear in the gardens of merchants. Pine-apples are cut in the royal gardens every month in the year; and some of them of such a size (M. Petersen being a disciple of the late Mr. Shenan, and keeping his plants, as all plants without buds ought to be kept, in a continually growing state), that we are afraid to state the weight; and, finally, a horticultural society has been established at Copenhagen. All this has been effected through the agency of M. Petersen, than whom we do not know a single individual, in any country, who (without the advantages of birth, rank, or fortune, and simply on account of his holding a public situation, and being a lover of his country, and enthusiastically attached to gardening) has effected so very remarkable a change in so short a time. The greatest reward which such a man as M.

Petersen can receive is, doubtless, the consciousness of having done so much good but we trust his royal master will, by some means, be rendered aware of the very extraordinary merits of M. Petersen; and how much he, in common with his subjects, is indebted to him for the introduction of what will eventually prove of so much real good to the country. There is no one who does not benefit from the introduction of new and improved culinary vegetables and fruits, from the peasant to the prince; or any garden, whether that of a cottage or a palace, that will not be increased in beauty by new flowers. Besides this, there is a moral influence in gardening improvements, of far greater importance than the mere physical enjoyments that they afford. A taste for peaceful occupations is created; reflections on the works of nature are induced; man begins to enquire and to read; he becomes humanised, and so far cultivated as to look upon his fellow creatures in other countries as his brethren; and, as a consequence of this, he will soon learn to loathe that scourge of the human race, war. — Cond.

NORTH AMERICA.

Carouie, near Quebec, the scat of William Atkinson, Esq., is mentioned in Vol. IX. p. 161., by our valued correspondent Counsellor Hart of Montreal. The proprietor, Mr. Atkinson, is now in England, after having made the tour of France, Italy, and Germany, and collected every where plants, seeds, sculptures, pictures, books, and other objects for enriching and ornamenting his beautiful seat. He describes Carouie as situated on a piece of table land on the top of a precipice 200 ft. high, and flanked by a wooded mountain range. From the windows of the balcony of the principal front of the house, the shipping in the harbour of Quebec is distinctly seen. A part of the grounds, called Spencer Wood, was occupied by the troops under General Wolfe when he attacked the town. The trees in the park, from what Mr. Atkinson stated to us, appear to be chiefly the white and red oak, and the hemlock and white spruce. The house is built of hemlock spruce; and the walls are so constructed as to admit of a free circulation of air from the bottom of the masonry to the eaves. Though built upwards of a century ago, the interior of the walls is as fresh as if they were newly put up. It seems the hemlock spruce begins to rot at the centre of the trunk; and, to prevent this, the trees were sawn up the middle, so as to expose the centre to the air. After placing one tree on another, to the height of the wall, in the usual manner, both the inside and the outside were battened with pieces of quartering from 1 in. to 6 in. in thickness; and to these the weather-boarding outside, and the laths for plastering inside, or the wainscoting, when that mode is employed, are nailed in the usual manner. A concealed opening is left under the lower weather-board, and at the eaves of the roof; in consequence of which, there is a constant circulation of air between the outside weather-boarding and the inside wainscoting, or plastering. Mr. Atkinson, from whom we hope to hear frequently, has an excellent Scotch gardener, Mr. Melville, who, we trust, will be induced by his master to become a regular correspondent. The principal botanist in the neighbourhood of Quebec, Mr. Atkinson informs us, is Mrs. Shepherd. Mr. Atkinson's kitchen-garden is 4 acres in extent, and contains a range of glass 300 ft. long. The dwelling-house, a beautiful lithographic view of which, and the surrounding scenery, was presented to us by Mr. Atkinson, is connected with a splendid conservatory.

Shell-bark Hickory Nuts and the Black Walnut, You did not mention the receipt of the large hickory nuts I sent you in the summer of 1835; and, therefore, I send now a few real shell-bark hickory nuts, which are double the size of any I ever saw before. These grew in New Jersey. The hickory nuts I purchased in the Pittsburg market, in September, 1834. The shell-barks, large or small, are delicious; whereas the meat of the black walnut, as you remark in the Arboretum, is "scarcely eatable." The reason is, that the kernel abounds with oil of a strong taste. I think that the remarks you have quoted (p. 1429.) from Michaux, of the black dye from the walnut husks, and of the oil obtained

from the kernels, refers to the Juglans nigra solely. In Pennsylvania, many mills are employed in crushing these nuts to make oil for painters, who use it for mixing up with paint for inside house work. I know, also, that the husks are extensively used for dyeing brown and black, by the German farmers, and others in the interior, who think it more economical to make their clothing from their own wool than to purchase foreign cloth.

The Washington Chestnut. Having engaged, last autumn, a plant, from the tenant of Belmont (the former seat of Judge Peters), of the sweet chestnut the growth of the tree the nut of which was planted by President Washington, I went, a few days since, and brought it away, with another growing beside it. The man assured me that he found two nuts under the original tree, in June last, in a state of vegetation, and planted them in a safe place; and that from these came the plants I purchased. I must keep them until a vessel offers direct for London from this port. Washington planted the nut the day after his period of service as President expired; viz. March, 1797. He attended the inauguration of President Adams, his successor, and dined the same day with Judge Peters.

The Silk-Grower's Manual. I also send the Silk Manual, published by Congress, in 1828, which I prepared for Mr. Rush, then Secretary of the Treasury, who was charged with the duty of procuring one. I thought I had previously sent it; but I suppose I did not, as I find that no notice is taken of the many facts it contains on the genus Mòrus, in Nos. 30. and 31. of the Arboretum; or of the culture of silk in this country while colonies of England. Maple Sugar. I send, also, some maple sugar, made from the sugar maple of which tree there are whole forests in the United States, though it is not "cultivated" there, as was said by Dr. Kidd in his Bridgewater Treatise. — James Mease. Philadelphia, April 17. 1837.

AUSTRALIA.

Elizabeth Bay, near Sydney, the residence of Alexander M'Leay, Esq., for many years secretary to the Linnæan Society, is described in a work recently published at Sydney, by the late Mr. Shepherd, a landscape-gardener and nurseryman there, as one of the finest places he has seen either at home or abroad. Mr. Lawrence, a surgeon, who has just returned from Sydney, speaks of it to us in raptures. We hope, in some future Number, to be able to give a plan and views of Mr. M'Leay's residence; and, what will be particularly interesting to European readers, a catalogue of the trees, shrubs, and plants, including even grasses, which form its verdant scenery. We regret to observe, that Mr. M'Leay is no longer Government Secretary; but, as he appears to have lost the office in consequence of some misconception of the Governor at Sydney, we have no doubt that the government at home will speedily restore it to him, should he be inclined to remain in Australia. We are gratified by observing it stated in the letters which passed between the government and Mr. M'Leay on this subject, and which are printed for circulation among the friends of the latter, that he enjoys as good health as ever he did at any period of his life. To those who know the extraordinary activity, both of body and mind, of Mr. M'Leay, while he was in this country, and his now advanced age, this will be considered as no small recommendation of the climate of Sydney - Cond.

ART. III. Domestic Notices.
ENGLAND.

M. EUGENE MELINON, who has been two years in this country, chiefly under Mr. Paxton, in the gardens at Chatsworth, has lately made a tour in the North, and been with Mr. M' Nab, and Mr. Stewart Murray. He will shortly return to the Paris garden; and, as he understands English thoroughly, will have great advantages there.

MM. Le Roy, sons of the nurseryman of that name at Angers, are now

in this country on a working tour, to acquire gardening information, and the language.

The Gardens of Buckingham Palace are undergoing great improvements and alterations by direction of Her Majesty. Upwards of 200 workmen are employed in diversifying and planting the grounds from the rear of the palace to the triumphal arch entrance at the top of Grosvenor Place. (Newsp.) It would indeed be contrary to nature, if an amiable and enlightened young woman were not fond of flowers and attachment to gardening follows as a matter of course. We trust that, under Her Majesty's auspices, a general reform will be commenced in the royal parks and gardens, and that in these will be included the substitution of an open iron railway for the present unsightly wall which forms the northern boundary to Kensington Gardens. This wall is a very great public nuisance, from a little way to the west of the Victoria Gate, Bayswater, all the way to Silver Street, Kensington Gravel Pits. We trust that it, and also the present kitchen-garden attached to Kensington Palace, will not be lost sight of by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. The kitchen-garden ought, undoubtedly, to be joined to the pleasure-ground; and as to the forcing-ground, as there is no part of the royal family would ever think of walking into it, we would have that and the adjoining barracks thrown into the gardens also. It is now just as easy to purchase pine-apples and melons to any extent which the royal family, or any other, might want, from the London shops, as it is to purchase apples or oranges: witness the numbers that are produced on the occasion of any public dinner. Mr. John Aiton, the present kitchen-gardener at Kensington, would, of course, receive a compensation for the loss of his situation in the event of our wishes being realised.

Kew Gardens. — The illiberal system established at Kew Gardens by Sir Joseph Banks, whereby the rare plants collected there were hoarded with the most niggard jealousy, and kept as much as possible out of the sight of any enquirer, led, in the first instance, to a feeling of satisfaction whenever it was known that the garden had been plundered, and some of its hidden treasures brought into circulation; and the indifference with which such thefts were regarded, if they were not actually winked at, by cultivators, led to such great laxity of conduct, that, until the practice was stopped by a prosecution, every private collection became exposed to like depredations; and the falsehoods that were told to cover the theft occasioned a great deal of confusion concerning the native habitation of plants introduced at that period. It was the narrow-minded doctrine of Sir Joseph Banks, that he could only render the king's collection superior to others by monopolising its contents; and by so doing he rendered it hateful and contemptible; whereas, if he had freely given and freely received, and made its contents easily accessible to those who were interested in them, it would have been a pleasure and a pride to the nation. It is now near twenty years since I have visited that odious and useless establishment. Formerly, I went there often, but always in vain; for, if I enquired for any rare plants which I had reason to believe were in the collection, except those which, from their size, could not be concealed, my conductor always denied any knowledge of them; and, if I asked whether I could speak to a person better acquainted with the plants, I was told that I could obtain no further information. The multitude of rare plants that have flourished and perished there unobserved I believe to be very great. I owe no thanks to that establishment, but for the mere permission to walk straight forward through the houses. I must do Mr. Salisbury the justice to say, that he repeatedly remonstrated with Sir Joseph Banks in vain on the subject. (Herbert's Amaryllidaceæ, p. 247.)

When I spoke (p. 247.) of the evil consequences which flowed from the bad system pursued there, tending to loosen the ties of morality, and to create a feeling of satisfaction when it was known that cuttings had been stolen from the large plants hoarded there, by which the public were enriched without any perceivable loss to the collection, I should, perhaps, have stated